Odds and Ends

Paul Taylor '37 #191 Thanked

Lest we forget the good our contributions do for the students at Pomona College, the following letter should bring home the tangible benefits of giving generously and without hesitation to Nu Alpha Phi's various charitable funds, most notably the Alumni Memorial Scholarship fund. Indefatigable (and inimitable in all senses of the word) alumnus Paul Taylor--surely the closest thing to an Elder Statesman Nu Alpha Phi has ever had--has personally provided for the educational needs of Pomona Students through his generosity, which recently helped Victor Liu realize his impressive academic and extracurricular successes.

Victor Liu

To Mr. and Mrs. Paul Taylor, My name is Victor Liu and I am a senior economics major at Pomona College. I am writing to thank you for the generous financial support you have provided me to attend Pomona College. Without your help, I would surely have not been able to afford such a wonderful education. This year I will have a full schedule as student body (ASPC) President, mortar board, senior honor society, 5-college Women's organization liaison. However, academics play an equally important role, and I currently have a 3.9 GPA. A couple of months ago I received a Rotary Scholarship to travel to the Pacific Rim (Taiwan or Australia) to study economics of the Pacific Rim. Thank you, [Signed Victor Liu] P.S. I'll be sure to keep you updated on all of my progress.

Tragedy in Claremont

Two Pomona College sophomores, Brian Cressner, 19, and Yuta "Peter" Kurahashi, 20, so far not identified as members of Nu Alpha Phi, died when an 80-foot eucalyptus tree fell and crushed their vehicle at the corner of Forth Street and College Avenue during a storm.

Pomona College President Peter Stanley and several students witnessed the incident and called the authorities immediately.

Memorial services were scheduled for March 10, at 4 p.m. in Bridges Hall of Music. Discussions about a scholarship fund and/or memorial were ongoing at press time.

Late breaking news from Pomona College dean, Ann Quinley:

To: The Pomona College Community From: Ann Quinley

The College will hold an on-campus memorial service for Peter Kurahashi and Brian Cressner on Tuesday, March 10, at 4:15 PM in Bridges Hall of Music. Faculty, students and staff are cordially invited to attend the service. There will be a reception for family, friends, faculty, students and staff following the service in Seaver House. <P> After the service, probably on Wednesday morning, the log that has served as a memorial to Pete and Brian will be moved to a new location on Marston Quad across from Thatcher Music Building. The log is being moved in response to concerns expressed by the City of Claremont about safety. Both traffic congestion (motorists who stop abruptly to see the memorial log) and pedestrians spilling into the street seem to pose hazards.

Make Sure Pomona Can Find You

Pomona College's Alumni Office has created a new form to allow alumni to update their information in Pomona's database. Because Pomona's database is what we use to distribute the Oak Leaf, be sure and visit the site (or call the office at 909-621-8000) and make sure they know where you are! You can also send e-mail to:

email_deleted.

http://www.pomona.edu/alumni/infoupdate.html

1997 San Francisco Alumni Wash

[Sound of a door slamming as several sullen Nay-sayers, a Negativist and an individual dressed as a spear of asparagus depart.]

Where was I?

In a brave attempt to put a definitive answer to the musical question, "Does a Bear Thirst in the Woods," event coordinator Dave Vinokur '86 #933 carefully selected the one venue in the city that paired craft-brewed ales with Spanish tapas, a delicious, if curious combination. Dave presently holds the All-Bay Area record for being thrown out on his ear from the best locations in town, so he took great pains to make reservations under a carefully crafted alias, Dave Vinokus, (with an "s"). The ruse worked. The unsuspecting proprietors graciously accepted his reservation for 750, and rubbed their uncommonly small, pale hands with glee. Or so I am told.

At the appointed hour all was in readiness. 750 empty bar stools gleamed in the afternoon light. Hundreds of tiny, expensive bowls of Nicoise olives lay stacked in the kitchen in anticipation of the crowd.

First to arrive on the scene were your redoubtable Oak Leaf editorial team of Paul Nagai '88 #978 and Chris Hall '82 #870, who had made the trip across the Bay in the sleek, chic surroundings of BART; a small Bon Voyage party had been thrown at the Rockridge Station in anticipation of their crossing, and many were the toffee peanuts consumed. Following closely behind (Paul had ahold of his collar) was James Eason `87 #977, who, with his partner Jeffrey Hookom, had been minding his own damned business outside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art when he was set upon precipitously by Paul and pressed into service for the Wash event.

As the small party settled themselves in for an evening of wholesome fellowship involving lots and lots of alcohol, there was a moment of rude surprise when it became apparent that the Thirsty Bear--a rather more uppity venue than has usually accommodated the likes of the Nappies--did not offer pitchers, all of them having been broken some days prior by a mysterious individual called Vinokul, with an "l." The fact that individual pints would only add to the profit margin of the establishment had not escaped the notice of the proprietors (cf. "uncommonly small, pale hands" in the preceding paragraphs), and they had taken no steps to replace the ruined pitchers. And so the little group was obliged to assuage their thirst sixteen ounces at a time, and, I hasten to add, through the nose.

Soon to join the group among the clutter of 746 empty barstools was Bruce "B.B." Burnam `80 #832, who has apparently suffered a tragic episode of selective amnesia since the early 1980s. Bruce can recall the rudiments of his life, but the details fall frustratingly beyond his grasp. There was a concerted effort on the part of the group to reconstruct his past, if not in its actual delineation, then at least in several entertaining alternatives, but to no avail.

Attendance swelled once more as Barney "Bernard" Grubbs `93 #1061 appeared upon the scene, looking very Watson & Crick in his Chem-Star hornrims. Disappointingly, he left his polymer-besmirched labcoat at home. Barney, whom the astute reader will remember turned up at the last Alumni Wash accompanied by his winsome lab assistant, came alone this time around. The story is that she was last seen in the Cornell chem department nosing about a large vat of chloral hydrate, and hasn't been heard from since. Chipper despite the loss, Barney eagerly quaffed his ale from a fetching graduated beaker, which he claims Pyrex made especially for him.

In his Pomona days Barney was styled (among other, less readily printable epithets) as "The Harbinger of Hassan," and true to form despite the years, Mr. Abdul-Wahid `95 #1047 arrived shortly after him, accompanied by his fiancee Julie Hendrixson (Pitzer `95). Hassan had spent the day sculpting skateboard blanks out of butter, which skilled artisans would later take and spread on waffles. He, Julie, and Barney had graciously chosen to visit the Alumni Wash on their way to Gunthar Hartwig's `92 #1030 "Toxixity Film Festival" in Oakland. To their credit, they hung around until after the check came, and each in his turn cursed the mysterious pitcher-ruiner "Vinokul."

A surprise guest was Brett Pinkin `98 #1133, a Nu Alpha Phi active at Pomona who had just driven up from Claremont and probably expected a whole hell of a lot more than what he got. Brett remained civil and didn't complain about the numerous (and increasingly maudlin) reveries beginning with, "When I was an active ... {hiccup} ...."

As the gathering came to a slow boil, host Dave Vinokur--in the disguise of his alter ego, Dave Vinokus--made his triumphant arrival, and, accompanied by his handler Cassie, quickly blended in with the crowd, thus eluding the attentions of the increasingly suspicious restaurateurs. Fearing that his presence unattended would get him thrown out once more on his increasingly flattened ear, Dave had ingeniously waited several hours to attend his own Wash, and appeared only when there was an entourage sufficient to cloak his movements. Satisfied that he was safe among the group, he proceeded to pull a glass pitcher from his jacket and quickly made up for lost drinking time. Within minutes he was hotly engaged in a pointless debate over whether the Grateful Dead represented the late twentieth century flowering of the Provençale Troubador tradition, or were just a bunch of fat old hippies on drugs. The matter was settled decisively as Vinokur's bodyguard threw the offending debater to the ground, after which no more--or very little of consequence, at least-- was heard from him.

This minor unpleasantness was soon forgotten as the place began to quickly fill with mobs of Nappies carrying all manner of buckets, flowerpots, saucepans and shoeboxes, who swarmed over the bar and to the feeble protestations of the waitstaff began to drain the contents of the giant copper tanks into their improvised containers. The manager, realizing at last that he had been duped by the "Vinokur-Vinokus" stratagem, could do little but stand by and wring his uncommonly small, pale hands as the whooping alumni jostled to get their fill. Those in attendance were so great in number that it would be easier to print the names of all those who weren't there: Powers, Earl '21 #1; Storrs, Les '22, #2; Dozier, Bob '23 #3 (he was running the L.A. marathon and sent his regrets); Leighton, Wes "Glick" '23, #4; McBurney, George '23 #5; Taylor, Bill '23 #6; Biddle, William '23 #7; Ewart, Park '23 #8; Hale, Chan '23 #9; Lorbeer, Howard '22 #10; Reid, Lynn '23 #11; Wood Tom '23 #12; Driggers, Minor '22 #13; Patterson, Harold '23 #14; Thomas, Cleo '23 #15, Nelson, Sam '24 #16; Lussier, Joe '24 #18; Short, Richard "Dick" '24 #19; Simon, Erle '24 #20; Eaton, Homer '24 #21; Gilbank ...

[In the interest of space most of the following text has been excised and incorporated into a separate publication, which can be ordered for the nominal sum of $120,000.00 from the Coop Store, under the aegis of the College Department of Senseless Waste. It makes an excellent sympathy gift, is a handsome doorstop and in certain lights will not scare the children unduly. The remainder has been stacked up in Marston Quad to provide temporary student housing. -Eds.]